1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to hand-held torches and, more particularly, to devices for guiding a hand-held torch along a cutting path.
2. Description of the Related Art
It is known that to guide a hand-held torch device, such as a plasma torch, along a cutting material a tip of the torch where the hot gases are ejected must be kept at a set height and at a set angle from the cutting material. Some torch users manually guide a torch along a cutting path by hand, relying on their own steadiness. Known devices for guiding plasma torches or other cutting tools along a cutting path on cutting material include attachments affixed onto the tip of the torch such as in U.S. Pat. No. 6,620,373 to DeCamp. Known devices also include support structures that guide the torch along a rail, such as in U.S. Pat. No. 4,363,469 to Cruzan. In each of these devices, once the torch tip is disengaged from the cutting material, the user must reset the relative position and orientation of the torch tip to the cutting material to return to the same cut or cut a second cutting material in the same way as the first.